Espiritualismo at the U.S.-Mexican Border Region

Rodolfo A. Otero

Espiritualismo at the
U.S.-Mexican Border Region

A Case Study of Possession,
Globalization, and the
Maintenance of Tradition

PETER LANG

New York • Bern • Berlin

Brussels • Vienna • Oxford • Warsaw

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Otero, Rodolfo A., author.

Title: Espiritualismo at the U.S.-Mexican Border Region: a case study of possession, globalization, and the maintenance of tradition / Rodolfo A. Otero.

Description: New York: Peter Lang, 2018.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018013312 | ISBN 978-1-4331-5228-3 (hardback: alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4331-5685-4 (ebook pdf) | ISBN 978-1-4331-5686-1 (epub) ISBN 978-1-4331-5687-8 (mobi)

Subjects: LCSH: Espiritualistas Trinitarios Marianos.

Cults—Mexican-American Border Region—Case studies.

Spiritualism—Mexican-American Border Region—Case studies.

Classification: LCC BL2532.E86 O84 2018 | DDC 299/.93—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018013312

DOI 10.3726/b13691

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

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All rights reserved.

Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm, xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.

About the author

Rodolfo A. Otero holds a Ph.D. in anthropology and is a professor at El Camino College in Torrance, California. He has studied religious change and symbolism at the U.S.-Mexican border and is the author of the article “The Transformation of Identity Through Possession Rituals in Popular Religion.”

About the book

Espiritualismo at the U.S.-Mexican Border Region: A Case Study of Possession, Globalization, and the Maintenance of Tradition is a sensitive, empathetic, and beautifully detailed account of the Mexican religious movement Espiritualismo Trinitario Mariano as practiced in the U.S.-Mexican border region, culminating 16 months of fieldwork. This study offers a salient portrait of a changing religion and society in Mexico and is critically relevant to the understanding of religious change in the developing world. Espiritualista symbolism at the U.S.-Mexican border, mainly manifested through spirit possession performances, is an effective system of knowledge and empowerment accessible to individuals from all levels in society. This symbolism reflects an awareness of attempts at discrediting tradition through the imposition of a “rational,” modernist hegemonic perspective. According to espiritualistas at the border, the social arrangements engendered by capitalism and the strong presence of Protestantism in the area are the forces that present a direct attack on Mexican tradition. In an uneasy alliance with Catholicism, espiritualismo stands as a bastion of tradition, and at the same time, it establishes a path to modernity. This book is a major contribution to the anthropology of religion, Latin American anthropology, gender studies, medical anthropology, and studies of migration. It is an excellent supplemental reading for undergraduate and graduate courses on the anthropology of religion.

Advance Praise for

Espiritualismo at the
U.S.-Mexican Border Region

“Espiritualismo at the U.S.-Mexican Border Region seeks to confirm the existence of a dimension that supports the reality of immateriality that is beyond the usual dimensions associated with human life. Rodolfo A. Otero takes us to the U.S.-Mexico border region—a region fraught with inequalities of multiple sorts and of intense and dynamic linguistic, cultural, economic, and social changes—to provide us with a firsthand, finely tuned, ethnographic narrative and analysis of the manner in which transborder peoples resurrect and participate in Espiritualismo temples in order to contend with these circumstances. Class jumps, ethnic and cultural shifts, grave economic disparities, and linguistic experimentation lead parts of the population to inquire and join with others, like and unlike themselves, in concert to gain a kind of identity resource that buttresses these constant demands on their many selves that negotiates the daily stress of such an environment. Transborder living accentuates these dynamics, and in a kind of ethnogenesis, the espiritualistas enter into realms of immateriality through possession to deal with their material reality. This is indeed crossing borders of many sorts, and this fine work takes us there in the long tradition of exemplary anthropological analysis and presentation.”

—Carlos G. Vélez-Ibáñez, Regents’ Professor, School of Transborder Studies
and Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University“

Rodolfo A. Otero’s book goes beyond a study of spiritualism to raise basic questions about religion, borderlands, and the Mexican experience with both. Otero provides a thorough account of spiritualist practice, based on both documentation and long and detailed personal ethnographic experience. He then situates spiritualism in Mexican society and provides a sociological background that uses, but also challenges, classical social theories, including those of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. This book is a major contribution to the study of Mexican religion; it is also a searching inquiry into ways of theorizing an ‘alternative’ spiritual practice that does not fit easily into current theories of religion. Otero’s work is a truly major contribution to the study of religion in modern societies.”

—E.N. Anderson, Professor Emeritus, Anthropology,
University of California, Riverside

This eBook can be cited

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Preface

Chapter 1. Espiritualismo at the U.S.–Mexican Border

Introduction

First Experiences: American Hegemony and Espiritualista Discourse

Marginality, Possession, and Gender

Mexicali and Conditions of Marginalization/Sources of Social Stress

Espiritualismo as a Mechanism for Healing: Espiritualista Symbolism

Espiritualismo Beyond Marginality

Research Methodology

Organization of the Book

Chapter 2. Espiritualismo and the Religious Field in Mexico

Introduction

Espiritualismo/Historical Background

Iglesia Mexicana Patriarcal de Elías (1866–1923) ←vii | viii→

Espiritualismo Trinitario Mariano (1923 to the Present)

The Mexican State and the Indigenous Populations After the 1910 Revolution

The Symbolic Dimension of Espiritualista Curaciones

The Symbolic Dimension of Espiritualista Cátedras

The Reconfiguration of the Religious Field in Mexico

Ethnic Identity vs. Religious Identity

Indigenous Participation in Protestant Movements in Mexico

Indigenous Participation in Espiritualismo

Conclusion

Chapter 3. Espiritualismo in Mexicali

Introduction

“Luz y Verdad”: Early Stages of Espiritualismo

The Growth of Espiritualismo in Mexicali

“Arca de la Nueva Alianza”: Espiritualismo and Eastern Mysticism

“La Progar”: A Hands-On Approach to Espiritualista Practice

María Juana’s Group: Espiritualismo and Extraterrestrials

“Resurrección a la Vida de la Gracia”: A Conservative Approach to Espiritualismo

Conclusion

Chapter 4. Cátedras, Sano y Buen Consejo, Discernimiento, and Desarrollo/The Intellectual Aspect of Espiritualismo